Of Monocles and Glasses
by Areskk
Summary: Shinichi returned but why wasn't he attending KID's heists? The theft became intrigued and curiosity killed the cat. KID entered Shinichi's life as Kaito and all hell broke loose, Shinichi never intended to fall for anyone else but Ran but this damn look-alike changed that. "Right now there's something I want to steal more than Pandora and it's your heart, detective." he gleamed.
1. Chapter 1

Conan gulped down the pill almost immediately as Haibara sighed before draping a thin blanket over the boy's rapidly growing body. It wasn't over yet. The organization was still lurking about and the permanent antidote has yet to be developed but the final battle was finally here. The FBI was preparing for months or possibly years-long of battle against the BO and Shinichi needed his body for that, by now his body have already built a rather steady immunity against the temporary antidote and the pain during transformation was scorching to watch. Shinichi gripped his chest tightly, oxygen wasn't passing through his lungs, his heart pumping wildly…the pain…was unbearable but he managed.

"How are you feeling?" Haibara brought him a change of clothes "Jodie-sensei will come by tomorrow so settle all your businesses today."

Shinichi painfully grunted as he sat up, allowing his consciousness to adapt to the new height and longer limbs of his original body. The detective already had a list of what he needed to do…today might be the last day he will ever see those people again. The box of heavily filtered and crap information happened to be on and just happened to be on a channel reporting on Kaitou KID newest announced heist " As you can see, I am currently on the scene of the infamous Kaitou KID assumed heist, just in front of Beika Art museum! According to the police, KID will appear to steal the beautiful Hortensia Diamond visiting Japan for the first –"

Haibara followed Shinichi's gaze to the television "You're going." It wasn't a question. She was sure he will go.

"No."

…Or sometimes he decided to be tsundere and not go.

"…" Ran speechlessly stared at the newly returned detective "Shinichi?" he had called her out to meet by the park to give her the answer she was waiting for.

"Yea…" he replied.

"I-is it really you?" she caressed his cheek "I-I'm not dreaming…? You…you won't disappear again right?"

"Ran…" oh man…the guilt have rear its head "About that… I need to tell you something…" Shinichi scratched the back of his head

His childhood friend flinched and stared into his eyes worriedly "W-what is it?"

Some awkward moment passed after Shinichi's 'little-not-too-long' explanation of his disappearance for 3 years. He was expecting karate kicks and chops violently being sent his way and he was more than ready to accept it…but it never came.

"I…see. I had my suspicions…you see Shinichi, if it was 3 years ago I would –" Shinichi placed a finger on her lips.

The guilt will eat him away forever for making her wait for nothing for 3 years "Ran, I'm sorry for making you wait for so long for nothing. I know you've moved on but I'm…really sorry."

"Yea I know and I forgive you. It's okay now as long as you're okay and don't run head first into trouble like that anymore," Ran looked away "Though I'll still be upset with you for sometimes but we can still hang out sometimes."

"Ran. I know this isn't exactly the right time to do this but there's something I need to do."

"Are you going to disappear again?"

"This time…I don't know if I will be able to come back," He saw she flinched and trembled "I'm sorry but no matter what anyone says, I will go." He whispered, pulling his beloved friend into a tight comforting hug.

"Even I can't convince you?"

He shuffled away and placed his assuring hands firmly on her shoulders "You're in good hands with Eisuke. Send him my regards. Now go, he's waiting for you." He indicated to the car parked at the entrance of the park.

"Shinichi," She said, walking towards the car "You better come back you hear me!" then ran.

"I'll try, and I'm sorry for making you cry."

"Are you ready?" Jodie leaned against the door "Oh? Little red hiding hood, are you not coming?"

Handing Shinichi a box of temporary antidotes for emergency use she answered the agent "No. I'll join you when everything is settled. There's still something I need to tell you after you come back, Kudo-kun."

The detective didn't say anything as he stepped into the car, he can't afford to make any more promises he can't keep, after all, the probability of him never coming back was higher than any case he ever encountered. Shinichi stared out the window in the backseat zoning out Jodie rambling her brain for plans and possible scenarios, the dark car halted at the red light on the street of Ekado heading straight for Narita. The teen heart skipped a beat when his eyes skimmed over an overly familiar face grinning and skipping down the street of Ekado next to a girl who looked way too similar to Ran. His entire body followed the boy, unconsciously reaching for him.

"Kudo-kun, what's wrong? Should we stop the car?" Jodie asked worriedly "Camel."

"No, no…keep going. It's fine." Shinichi mentally slapped himself, there's no time to worry about him 'Get it together or else…I won't be able to come back.'


	2. Chapter 2

Kaitou KID, an infamous gentlemen thief stealing internationally treasured jewels for more than ten years, yet his identity remain a mystery and in today's evening, he strikes yet again but the heist was long over. KID stood on the roof of a tall building, holding the Logan Sapphire to the moonlight "Another miss…" he flicked his hand and the gem returned to his pocket as he leaned over the railing, savouring the scenery of Beika's nightlife. The task force was led away by a dummy, Hakuba was back in England and Tantei-kun decided to ignore him for the past…how long has it been? Oh yes, _eight months_! Who can ignore Kaitou Kid for eight months?! They must be crazy, KID jumped down the building and spread his wings back home.

 _llllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllll_

"I don't know whether he's suicidal or dedicated but this is ridiculous." Haibara spat with obvious displease when she arrived at the FBI base, having just arrived in America less than half an hour ago there was no time for jetlag because of a certain suicidal detective was knocking on Death's door furiously, trying to get in Death's house.

Jodie rushed besides the little girl in strides "The last antidote was still the middle of transforming back during the explosion he luckily managed to shrink and dodged most of the building fragments if it wasn't for the tracker we placed on him, he would've been buried under that wall handcuffed to the boss."

"How's his situation?"

"The doctors are treating him up right now, here's a report for his injuries," Jodie handed Haibara the file.

Contemplating, Haibara stared at the report "He should be fine after treatment since he's not the type to die so easily. A few broken ribs, legs, a bullet to the stomach and internal bleeding won't kill him. And? What about that person?"

"He's behind bars now, for good. The whole base was thoroughly searched and most of the high-ranking members were apprehended."

"Most?"

"A few got away. We're tracking them down right now," Camel held his injured arm as he entered the conversation "It should completely settle by the time Kudo-kun come around."

"Knowing him…he'll try and run straight back to work the moment he wakes up so maybe place some guards in his room, also just in case they come after him." Haibara returned the pile of papers and waited outside the operation room.

Jodie nodded and ran towards a group of soldiers. All they can hope is for Shinichi to make it through the last hurdle…

 _lllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllll_

' _Motivation._ ' Kaito repeated over and over again in his head, bored out of his mind from whatever the teacher was rambling about in the rainbow stained classroom from his previous prank. Tantei-kun practically disappeared to god-knows-where and Hakuba was…well…Hakuba, the over obsessive KID fanboy. Come to think of it…where had Tantei-kun disappeared to? Not that he really want to know but really, for the past ten months, all the heist that he pulled was too easy. No one was tailing him to the roof, no one was aiming a paralyzer at him and no one was shooting some kickable object randomly lying around at his head. The teen missed that thrilling sensation and the shiver that ran down his spine when a flushed child glare meets his eyes.

"Bakaito!" Aoko with hands on her waist stared down at him "Stop spacing out in class or you'll really be stupid for the rest of your life!"

"Now, now Nakamori-san, Kuroba-kun isn't that simple minded," Akako smiled.

"If he was, he would be in jail by now. Isn't that right, KID?" Hakuba, with the help of Akako and Aoko, created a wall surrounding Kaito's table.

"Hey, hey. How many time do I have to say it for you to understand? I'm not KID," Kaito leaned back in his chair and stared out the window.

"Aoko-chan!" Keiko called out from the door "Let's go!" Aoko quickly waved goodbye to the group before leaving. Hakuba followed after he intercepts a phone call.

Akako chuckled to herself "I wonder why our favourite thief is so depressed lately…"

"I have no idea what you are talking about." Kaito ignored her.

Displeased with her treatment, Akako took the neighbour seat "Oh? Really? Ohohoho~ my dear friend Lucifer told me you were quite worried for a child detective. Do you want to know where he is?"

Thanks to years-long of maintaining a poker face, Kaito smoothly manoeuvred to face the red witch with an annoyed expression "Idiot. Who are you talking about and why would I want to know where he is? " expecting Akako to press the issue further turned away again. The chair creaked as she stood up.

"You're right. Who and why I wonder~" Akako smiled teasingly "Well, 'a few broken ribs, legs, a bullet to the stomach and internal bleeding won't kill him'" Laughing her signature laugh, she walked away.

A flabbergasted Kaito stared at her retreating form, whose broken ribs? Whose broken legs? Who took a bullet in the stomach? Does he know this person? Did she mean Tantei-kun? Oh god, what happened? _'Calm down Kaito…you're probably overthinking it. Since when did you believe in her words?_ ' the thief rest his thoughts, grabbed his bag and jumped out the window.

 _llllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllll_

Aching pain, drowsiness, dizziness, and numbness was what Shinichi woke up to. An uncomfortable pain settled on where his lungs would be and refused to leave, wherever he was, it was too bright as he tried to sit up to suddenly find that both his hands are restricted. Did they lose the battle? Did the boss captured him and brought back to another base? Is this heaven? Is he dead?

"No, you're not dead and you're in a hospital room, not heaven."

Haibara's voice brought him back to earth "Haibara?" her face became clearer when his eyes adjusted to the room "What happened?"

"You did it. It's finally over," Haibara let go of a breath she has been holding and relaxed into her chair "Before you do anything listen to me. Ever since the explosion, you've slept for 2 months, most members of the crows are behind bars except for one. "

"Who?"

"Codename: Snake. The FBI are trying to work out his location but it seems to be pretty well hidden. You shouldn't worry so much since you've just healed. two days from now, you'll be discharged"

"…"

Haibara pulled out a laptop and began typing away "Since everything is settled, I have something to tell you regarding APTX-4869."

Shinichi in Conan's body gape with expectation "You complete the antidote?"

"Sorry to disappoint you but close. Take a look at this," Haibara unlocked the handcuffs binding Shinichi to the bed and handed him her laptop "This person was my co-operative during the development of APTX-4869, they helped me escape the base and possess the information to fully develop a permanent antidote. Codename: Fluffy duck. While raiding the base have you seen this person?"

A biography of a woman in her twenties was staring back at him with black dishevelled hair, pale complexion, and deep dark circle. This woman looks like she hasn't slept in years.

"No…I didn't see her."

"Is that so? It's most likely they locked her up after she helped me escape but we won't know for sure. She is a necessary factor for you to return as Kudo Shinichi," Haibara paused "You know what to do. The FBI are already tracking every possible place she can be but no valid." She placed a piece of paper on the table next to Shinichi's bed.

"What are you going to do?" Shinichi put the laptop aside when Haibara reached the door.

Glancing back, she gave him a cunning smirk "I'll start on the antidote and wait for her to join me."

Thrashing useless thoughts aside Shinichi read the paper again, clues of the woman whereabouts was left by Vermouth so now…he just needs to decipher them right after his two months coma.

Late into the night, the child could still hear the constant sound of tires rolling on asphalt concrete. His parents had just left after hours of sobbing from his mother, leaving him to the noisy nightlife of America. His body was still wounded, according to the doctor, walking will prove to be a great difficulty for another month considering how badly he injured his legs but he should be able to use them normally after the rehabilitation process. Wherever this Fluffy Duck is, he needs to find her as soon as possible. The clue left by the blonde woman wasn't hard but staring at it for too long caused him to feel dizzy. He grabbed the piece of paper and continued on.

 _llllllllllllll_

 _550-23 45-2008 1920 - 2302_

 _14 05 23 25 15 18 11 - 10036_

 _My last present to you, Silver Bullet._

 _llllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllll_

* * *

Author's note: I was so surprised by the amount of attention the first chapter got just after uploading. Thank you so much for that! This series, hopefully, will be a long one to satisfy my sadistic needs of angst but no promises, guys. Well then, see you next time~~


	3. Chapter 3

If you are confused about Conan growing into Shinichi and shrinking back, please read [ **Author's Note** ] at the end, it provides an explanation. (or so I hope.)

* * *

Down the seemly endless hallway, Conan spun his head in search for a specific room number, 2302. The wounds on his body have indeed healed and bandaged as a precaution for a re-opening of some internal bleeding wounds that hasn't fully healed.

Somewhere on the 23rd floor was the woman that can bring Shinichi back and he needed to find her. His tiny shadow loomed over the door with 2302 engraved on the golden plate in front of it. Calming his thumping heart, Conan reached for the intercom with much difficulty.

A small click was heard followed by a long silence, he knew she responded.

[Hello?] Her muffled voice over the intercom reached his ears.

"19 08 05," he started "-18 18 25"

[…] and the door clicked open.

Conan tumbled into the dark room, the only light emitted was from roughly more than 10 monitors hanging from the wall in what was supposed to be the living room. The apartment was huge compared to the ones in Japan but that is the way of America, everything is supersized. Empty bottles of tea littered the floor, clothes and paper scattered everywhere and occasionally rubbish of used wrappings would peek out from under the stash of paper above.

"Sorry it's a bit dark," Fluffy Duck flipped the light switches and his eyes ached in response to the bright lit room "Kudo Shinichi, yea?" He gave a curt nod.

The child didn't bother removing his shoes, given the state of the absolutely dirty floor and settled on the couch, a scent of citrus and potato chips invaded his nostrils "You're not cautious of me?" he uncomfortably moved away from the couch.

"Well, for one Gin suddenly stopped calling me about the pill for more than three days - that's suspicious but a big help and two, I saw you - on the monitors." Conan glanced at the monitors, security footage of debris and noise screens was shown except for one that stopped and zoomed extremely close to the face of Kudo Shinichi. The woman had access to the organization's base security cameras, was the conclusion Conan arrived to.

"And three, Sherry sent you."

"Then you know why I'm here."

"Yea, actually I was done packing so good timing-"

"Huh?"

"-Let's go."

"That easy?!"

"Yep." Fluffy grabbed her luggage along with Conan out the door.

* * *

' _For one damn year,'_ Kaito grumbled in his head _'Where the hell did he go?'_ He observed the massive mansion that belongs the Kudo family. According to Mouri-chan, Conan left one year ago and there was no contact ever since. No one was in the clumsy scientist's house except for himself and Kudo mansion was empty except for the occasional cleaning trips from Mouri-chan. Kaito was getting frustrated, no he was already frustrated starting around 9 months ago. His favorite detective just up and vanished for one year and no one knows whether he was alive or not and if possible Kaito would not like to think about the worst case possible. The teen was so close to going berserk and pull out every hair on his head but no, Shinichi doesn't like bald Kaito - Shinichi likes Kaito with hair.

Irritated, the thief stomped his way back home. The things that Koizumi said to him months ago plagued his beautiful dreams to a nightmare every night. Each and every one of them was different, he couldn't remember them but he would always wake up in sweat mixed with tears and an unsettling fear.

"Oh, it's enough! I don't care anymore!" he huffed.

* * *

"Fuck." Fluffy repeatedly muttered under her breath, the bags under her eyes deepened over the past few months working with Sherry to complete the cure and they were both screwed right now…

An hour ago, the research and development of the cure were fully completed and in the process of troubleshooting but of course, nothing would go as planned. The whole laboratory soon filled with screaming alarms and trippy flashing red lights added with extra distant gunshots. From the situation observed so far, it seems that the intruders are former members of the organization. Being the suicidally dedicated detective that he is, Conan stubbornly stayed behind and tried to hold back the men in black armed with assault rifles with soccer balls shot by super powered shoes at an inhumane speed.

Fluffy barely managed to drag the detective out before potential bullets could make holes through his tiny body.

The moment they reached the exit a bomb exploded and the shock wave blew the both of them a full two meters away from the base. Fluffy slightly rotated her body in mid-air to take most of the fall impact in consideration of Conan's possible wounds.

"Fuck when did they install that bomb? Kudo…? Sherry!"

Haibara rushed over with a group of medical assistance who immediately took Conan into custody.

"You okay?" Haibara tucked the data drive into her pocket.

"Yea, I managed to grab the pill before escaping. Do you think they're all gone now?" Fluffy put the pill safely in a capsule and into her lab coat pocket.

"Not without Snake behind bars but that suicidal detective should know how to take care of him after he returns to Japan. We should also move to the FBI base too, there might be some still lurking around the area."

After a curt nod, Fluffy stumbled into the car behind Haibara.

Once again, Conan entered the hospital. Yukiko was by his bedside and Yusaku was on the couch, luckily only some of his previous wounds reopened and none was newly added.

"Like I said, I'm fine now so I don't need to be here." Conan tried convincing his parents for the fifth time.

"Shinichi," Yusaku clucked "It was a big mistake for us to leave you all by yourself in Japan that's why things turned out like this. Won't you stay in the US with us?"

"That's right, Shin-chan. I think you should live with us, I mean it won't be a problem since you're so good in English already an-and if you want to, you can even work for the FBI here!" Yukiko clamped on her son's hands "What do you say?"

Conan paused on the idea "…Sorry mom, I can't."

Yusaku sighed, as expected "I thought so. But we can't have you running into danger like this every time, Shinichi."

"Only this time, dad. I'll make sure there won't be a second."

"Shin-chan…"

Yusaku pushed up from the couch "I hope you can keep that promise-"

"Ah." His son nodded.

"-Come on, Yukiko. Shinichi needs to rest."

Closing the door behind them, the little child was left to his own thoughts. The battle was truly over but judging from the state of his body, the two mad scientists won't let him take the pill right away until everything has decently healed.

His bright blues orbs drifted to the window.

It was raining outside, dampened the hard concrete roads of New York and people were still bustling about. During the cure development, he was bored out of his mind just waiting around anxiously with nothing to do and his mind begin wandering about the person he caught a glimpse of before leaving Japan. The boy was like his identical twin with very little noticeable differences

 _'Could it be him?'_ Shinichi thought over and over again.

The door clicked open and entered Haibara with Fluffy, the older woman never revealed her name so he'll just have to call her Fluffy.

"The cure is ready. Until your body heal, we'll hold onto it." Haibara announced.

"What about the research?" He asked.

Fluffy lifted her hand "I'll be holding onto the only copies of both the cure and APTX-4869 and take them to my grave."

"Won't they be targeting you again?"

"I have been granted the FBI protection and since most of the branches were destroyed, there won't be a problem. Snakes might be a problem, not for me but for that thief he's hunting in Japan so as long as I keep myself under cover, I'll be fine."

Haibara climbed onto the couch followed by Fluffy "Since we're here. I'll tell you a little bit about the last roaming member of this syndicate. When I was in the organization, his sole mission was to search for anything that would aid the boss's research. He belongs to the external division which means he's on roughly the same rank as Vodka but no higher than Gin."

"On recent reports, he's hunting down a thief called Kaitou KID in Japan in search of a jewel named Pandora which is inside another jewel and said to have a red glow when seen through the moonlight and can grant immortality. Because Kaitou KID is also looking for the same jewel, he needed to be taken down the moment he found it, which Snake noted, isn't far from now." Fluffy added pulling Conan to even deeper thoughts as his strategic mind began rotating.

The sound of tumbling rain filled the room with second ticks from the clock hang on the wall "Here's the pill," Fluffy pulled the capsule and placed it in Haibara's hand "I ought to leave and relay Snake's activities to the Japanese government. I had a rough look at your wounds, Kudo. It should heal in two weeks, then you can return to Japan so don't push yourself and Sherry, remember to check his mental state from time to time as well, I'm sure the three hours that he spent with the boss before the explosion wasn't pleasant."

"I'm fine!" Conan retorted.

Fluffy mindlessly waved "That's what they all say. Well, I'll be off to Switzerland, if anything comes up I'll pay you a visit and trust me. You do not want to hear from me again." And closed the door behind her.

The sound of droplets of rain and ticking clock once again fill the room with both children in a comfortable silence. They both knew their hard work paid off and now the fear of hiding had settled. Shinichi can return to his normal life and Haibara can start all over again.

"Kudo-kun," Haibara broke the silence "Thank you for what you did." Her lips tucked in a small sincere smile.

Shinichi's eyes started twitching in suspicion, either Haibara got a head concussion or she got kidnapped and someone had disguised as her and is currently trying to lure him into some sort of trap "A-are you okay?" Conan stuttered.

"Eh?"

"I mean, a cold woman like you, who would point a gun at me while I was asleep in a hospital, is thanking _and_ smiling really creepily at me so…"

Angry tick marks appeared on Haibara's forehead as she held the delicate capsule in hand "Do you want the cure or not?" threateningly clasped the capsule between her thumb and index finger.

"A-ah, y-you're welcome…" Oh, how he wish to return to Japan right now...

* * *

 **Author's Note:** Hello! I am here today to first thank you so much for reading this story! I was so happy when some of you notice my grammar mistakes and helped me fixed it. I do apologize if I confuse you by making constant grammatical mistakes because English is not my first language. But secondly, I am also here to explain a few things! A few of you have sent in reviews asking about Conan switching between Shinichi and Conan so here's what happened so far:

We started off with Conan taking the pills so he returned as Shinichi to make it to America since Conan doesn't have an official registration with the Japanese government. Then on the off-screen fight between the FBI and the BO between chapter 1 and 2, he took another one since it's more convenient to fight in his original body and towards the end of the fight between him and the boss, an explosion occurred somewhere in the BO base causing the whole building to collapse (I will go into detail of what happened in later chapters) just as he was shrinking back to Conan so he managed to avoid most of the rock that would have severely injured him if he was in his original body, from this point onwards he remained as Conan. I hope this helped a little and you didn't become even more confused...

I also received some questions about Vermouth which gave me lots of possibilities for the future that I didn't think of before but this is all for now. Thank you so much for reading! You cannot believe how happy I am to get a notification on your responses and it motivates me to write more. Sorry, this ended on a sappy note but I'm really looking forward to the next chapter! Shinichi finally returns to Japan and chapter 4 marks the first angst of the series! I hope to see you next time~~


	4. Chapter 4

**Kudou Shinichi finally return! And his story is…  
** _by Suzuki Mizuki_ | _April 29_

 _On the 29th of April, Japan Modern Sherlock Holmes was spotted at Narita Airport international arrival lobby. After his mysterious disappearance four years ago, just what had happened?_

 _Our team had managed to land an interview with the man himself, just as he was exiting Narita._

 _Click on the video below for video footage._

 _(Read more: Kudou Shinichi sudden disappearance?! Where could he have gone?!)_

 **Share or comment on this article.**

* * *

 **SHiniCHi-sAmA RETURNS!**

 _-Shinichi4life-_

April 29 | 4:31 AM

 _I just saw Shinichi-sama at Narita! Yay! He's finally back! Holy sh*t i think he just got hella lot hotter! my overies cant take dis anymoar!_

Tagged: _#kudo shinichi #perfection #bae #husbando_

* * *

 **しんーちゃん** _＠_ _shin-chan5683_ \- 3h _  
__＠_ _realShinichiKudou_ Omg Welcome back!

 _Share | Retweet (231) | Like (1.1k)| More_

 **赤い魔女** _＠_ _theRedWitch_ – 4h

 _＠_ _KaitouClover1412_ Ara~ Aren't you happy? _#KIDxShin_

 _Share | Retweet (34.2k) | Like (153.6k)| More_

 **Karate-chan** _＠_ _realRanMouri_ – 3h

 _＠_ _realShinichiKudou_ We gotta have a party! Call me when you get back!

 _Share | Retweet (214) | Like (23.4k)| More_

 **I am KID** _＠_ _KaitouClover1412_ – 4h

 _＠_ _theRedWitch_ What are you talking about? What's with that tag?

 _Share | Retweet (0) | Like (3)| More_

 **Better than Kudou Shinichi** _＠_ _HeiHatto_ – 5h

 _＠_ _realShinichiKudou_ Ay while yer at Narita come ta Osaka, I'll treat ya ta somethin' gud!

 _Share | Retweet (140) | Like (241)| More_

 **Heisei Holmes** _＠_ _realKudouShinichi_ – 7h

 _＠_ _HeiHatto_ _＠_ _realRanMouri_ No.

 _Share | Retweet (824.2k) | Like (1042.1k)| More_

 **ナナ** _＠_ _Nanaaa21_ – 10h

 _＠_ _realShinichiKudou_ _#KIDxShin_

 _Share | Retweet (8.2k) | Like (42.1k)| More_

 **KIDxShin is real** _＠_ _yui2131_ – 9h

 _＠_ _realShinichiKudou_ _#KIDxShin_ ship ship ship ship ship ship ship ship ship

 _Share | Retweet (723) | Like (1.4k)| More_

* * *

Shinichi turned off his phone and hustled a sigh. The media were in an uproar at his return and his face was practically on every screen at the Ginza district when displaying the news. Was he this popular before?

"What are you planning to do now, Shinichi?" Professor Agasa inquired as he pulled the joystick back.

Shinichi glanced at his watch, "I'll just lay low for now before I come up with a plan. Haibara." He handed her a notepad.

"Of course," She scribbled some things and handed it back, "I'll be running a weekly check-up for about 3 months to make sure the cure settled in."

He scrunched the note into his pocket and exited the car, "Thanks, professor, I'll drop by later."

"Okay, see you later, Shinichi!" Agasa waved as he drove the car into his own garage.

The front gate creaked on its hinges as he stepped inside his house. It has been four years and it feels a little unfamiliar but he'll have to get used to it soon.

"Ah?" A foreign voice appeared as Shinichi reached the lodge, "Shinichi-kun?"

Shocked, Shinichi instinctively took a step back, "Su-Subaru-san? Why are you here?"

"Welcome home." Subaru continued to dig through the sofa in the living room.

"…" Shinichi's mouth hang for a moment, "I…I'm home…"

From the sofa, Subaru pulled out a small black device and crushed it in his hand.

"That should be the last one." He whispered to himself.

Shinichi felt a little sense of unease crippling in, "I hope you're not the one that set those up."

"How rude of you," Subaru clapped his hands clean, "I heard that you're after Snake after disbanding the organisation so I thought I'll lend you a hand."

The detective sighed, "Ah…thank you…" He pulled his luggage ahead, "Since you're here, stay for a while, I'll prepare some coffee."

"I'm not exactly free, you know." Subaru plopped down on the couch.

Shinichi hopped down the stairs after putting his luggage away, "You say that but aren't you already settled?" and into the kitchen, "I heard Jodie-san was looking for you, what did you do this time?"

"'What did I do' you said. You made it sound like I did something horrible…" Subaru sat upright and took a coffee cup that Shinichi offered, "Ah, that's right. Since I'm already here, I'll make dinner before I leave."

The younger gave him the most questioning look he ever received, "Are you Ran?"

"I'm trying to be nice here since you offered me coffee, but I guess kids nowadays are just that ungrateful." The FBI agent sighed.

Shinichi settled on the seat opposing Subaru, "Excuse you, I already graduated from high school."

But the two nerds managed to get on the subject of mystery and spent the whole day talking about Sherlock until Subaru was forced to leave by his duty.

* * *

"…" Kaito gently close his laptop lid "Shinichi, you idiot!" and furiously threw the innocent laptop against the wall, turning his anger into motivation to plan another heist, "Just you wait, you cheating detective. How dare you…" the thief mumbled as he scribbled on a piece of paper.

The next morning, around midday at Beika University "Wah!" Aoko exclaimed, "Kaito, you look horrible!" looking down on her childhood friend who is slumping lifelessly over the desk.

"Geez…" the unhealthily pale Kaito with heavy dark circles under his eyes sarcastically claimed, "What are you talking about? I'm as handsome as always!"

Hakuba magically appeared next to Aoko, "Don't tell me you stupidly stayed up all night yesterday to plan for your heist, KID." The blond mockingly smirked.

"This bastard…" Kaito narrowed his eyes at the British detective because that was 100% what happened.

"I heard KID sent out a notice last night after three months. Are you _that_ excited that _he's_ finally back?" Akako practically appeared out of nowhere and next to Kaito. Kaito wasn't sure on which 'he' Akako was referring to but the thief slumped even further in his chair if it was even possible, why is he surrounded by weirdos?

"Ah, that's right! Hakuba-kun! Have you heard about Kudou Shinichi? Apparently he's a really smart detective, do you think he can catch KID?" Aoko suddenly yelled but was quickly distracted by the alert by her phone.

Akako pulled a sly smile, "Ara~ If it's Kudou Shinichi then he will surely be able to catch KID," she paused and glanced at the exhausted thief, "That is if the man decides to attend the heist." It was small, almost invisible but Akako caught the tensing of Kaito's shoulders. Teasing the phantom was fun especially when she figured his weakness was his favourite critic, oh the things that she could do to make her forbidden dreams come true.

"Hey, Kaito! Let's go to KID's heist tonight! I promised one of my friends that I'll introduce you!" Aoko clasped her hands together in prayer, "Please?!"

Hakuba placed a hand on her shoulder, "Aoko-kun, without you having to ask I'm sure he'll be there anyway. Not as Kuroba Kaito but as Kaitou KID, you see."

"Oi, Hakuba how many times do I have to say for it to get through your thick head?" Kaito grumbled, "I'm not KID."

Strangely, unlike usual how the blond would throw back a snarky remark instead he folded his arms, "If insist, then the only plausible individual is none other than Kudou Shinichi. Considering that he disappeared for some years it's possible that he might disguise as Kaitou KID at night and…hmm." the rest turned into an ineligible mumble as Hakuba fall deeper into his own thoughts and walked away.

' _I have a bad feeling about this…'_ Kaito pondered to himself.

* * *

"Shinichi, can you come with me to KID's heist tonight? I have to introduce you to someone!" Ran clasped her hands together in prayer, "Please?!"

The next morning, at some time that is way too early in the morning, Ran came to pay a visit.

"Isn't it fine?" Haibara appeared said in front Agasa's house as she collected the newspaper, "You were probably planning to go anyway."

"Please?" Ran pleased, "Shinichi~"

The sleuth tiredly hung his head, "Why do you have to introduce them to me? And Haibara, you stay out of this."

"Eh? Because~ and besides you need to get out more. Just because you just got back doesn't mean you can shut yourself in your house!" the childhood friend stubbornly argued.

Seriously, the detective just can't understand why people use because as a reason for everything, it doesn't make a damn sense, "Don't you 'because' me. It's not a reason."

"If you don't come with me tonight, I'll break into your house right now and crash your coffee machine."

"Alright, tell me what time and where. I'll meet you there." Shinichi's love for his coffee machine has become a vulnerable weakness, how pitiful. If a criminal decided to take his coffee machine as a hostage, he'll probably end up following their every demand.

Ran tapped at her phone for a few second "Then…I'll meet you at 6:30 in front of the museum. You'll be surprised to see her! See you later!" and she was out the gate.

Shinichi ruffled his bed hair and returned inside for a cup of coffee. He settled down and turned on the news.

[Yesterday night, Kaitou KID had sent out a riddled notice after his mysterious disappearance for three months. Just what on earth happened? And what is his target this time? We have received an exclusive interview from Inspector Nakamori. If you would please, Emi-san.]

[My pleasure, this is Morizuka Emi, reporting in at Beika Museum. Inspector Nakamori, what are your thoughts on the notice KID sent this time?] a picture of the notice appeared on the screen.

" _Tomarei o diamante vermelho Moussaieff esta noite…"_ Shinichi read the notice out loud.

[…It's a pain that he didn't say the time so we have to stake out the whole day. That bastard, KID are you listening?! I know you're watching this! I'll definitely catch you when you appear you hear?!] the channel flicked back to the reporter in the studio [And for our most recent breaking news, Kudou Shinichi has finally returned from his mysterious disappearance after three years. Speculation has it, that the detective was on an undercover mission for-]

He left for the library, on the couch where he grabbed a well-preserved copy of 'The Sign of Four' and continued where he left off.

Shinichi set the book down on his stomach as he found himself unable to immerse into the Victorian era with his idol, he took his phone from the coffee table, "Amuro-san, yes…tonight…yes…I'll leave it to you. Ah, also about Subaru-san… " the detective yanked the phone away from his ear.

A muffled "Don't talk about that bastard in front of me!" rang clearly through the phone.

"You two should just make up already…" he ripped the phone away from his ear again.

"What are you talking about?!" screamed a muffled voice over the phone.

Shinichi sighed "He came over yesterday and decided to sweep the bugs from my house and refuse to go home until Jodie called him at eleven. I'm fine with you guys fighting but please don't drag me into it," A loud click was heard as Amuro smashed the 'END CALL' button, "Seriously I should be the last person to give out relationship advice. You two should grow up already." The detective sighed and returned to his book.

* * *

' " _And refuse to go home until…eleven"'_ Kaito replayed the passage over and over again in his head. Each time, it fueled his raging motivation. He clicked on the ear piece in his ear and swapped channel, "Ah, Jii-chan? Is everything ready?...Alright, then just follow my cue when the time comes."

He returned to Beika hotel lobby where Aoko and Hakuba impatiently waited.

"Seriously Kaito! How long were you planning to take in the toilet?! Are you constipated?!" Aoko shot up the moment Kaito came into sight.

Hakuba interrupted "Or did you went to set up traps for your heist tonight, KID?"

"Get this through that thick skull of yours. For the last time, I am not KID!" the messy head exaggerated the movement of his mouth with every syllable to make sure the blond would just stop calling him out on his night job already.

 _Five more hours until the heist._

* * *

The little child lifted the book from Shinichi's stomach.

"Why are you lazing around when the heist is just hours away?" Haibara chopped the detective's head with the book's hardcover, "It's hard to believe that you're an adult now. Get up. We'll run a test before I let you go to the heist."

Abruptly woken up by an aching pain, Shinichi cracked open his eyes, "Haibara?"

"Yea and you need to get up," The little child grabbed the detective's collar and dragged the half asleep detective over to the professor's house, "Since your house isn't as 'clean' as the professor's. We'll talk here."

The little scientist withdrew some blood from the sleuth "Ah…" he grumbled, "I'm not going to fight anyone so you don't need to check anything."

"I'm sure if a kid pointed a laser beam at him you would freak out and cover him." She placed the blood sample into a tray.

"…"

"I also heard that Amuro-san and that man is helping you. What will you do if it fails?"

Shinichi applied pressure on the place where Haibara previously drew out blood, "Who knows…" The smaller girl silently handed him a tablet "What's this?"

"It's developed by Duck and me, a supplement that optimises the effects of the cure. In theory, it should not have any additional side effects."

 _Two and a half hours before the heist._

* * *

"Kaito! Hakuba-kun! Over here!" Aoko waved furiously to her friends "My friend said she'll be here soon."

" 'kay," Kaito replied as he fondled with a small switch in his pocket, "By the way, who's this friend of yours?"

"Ah, you'll be surprised! She-"

"Aoko-chan!" a familiar voice rang out.

"Oh!" Aoko turned around and waved, "Ran-chan!"

Ran caught her breath as she reached where Aoko was standing "I'm sorry I'm a bit late. You see, I bumped into a friend at the station."

" 'ello! I'm Toyama Kazuha nice ta meet ya!" A girl with her hair tied in a ponytail greeted. Kaito flinched and searched around if those two are here then the other two must be around somewhere.

"-Eh Hattori-kun? Why are you answering Shinichi'phone?...Ah okay," Ran politely covered her mouth as she yelled into her mobile and after a while returned to the rest "Shinichi and Hattori-kun ran into a case so they said to go ahead…"

' _Still doesn't explain why Tantei-han answered his Tantei-kun's phone…'_ Kaito added in his head. Fully regretting the fact that he didn't bother to bug his favourite critics as he followed the group inside.

 _Twenty minutes before the heist._

* * *

Shinichi entered the museum where the Moussaieff diamond was on display in the middle of the room. Just half an hour ago, he reunited with Hattori in front of a ramen restaurant on the way to the museum and because 1+1=2 so one death magnet plus another death magnet equal a stronger death magnet which resulted in two dead bodies at the moment the two detectives exchanged greetings. A case of poisoning, the two victims decided to kill each other by putting cyanide into the other's food while the other wasn't looking and the whole thing ended in a double suicide. Humans. Shinichi mentally sighed. The Osakan detective got called to the metropolitan to report on a case, leaving him to attend KID's heist by himself.

Back to the present, Shinichi came around to the display case where the scarlet jewel was enclosed. The police force surrounded the room like an iron fence, looks like they're going the traditional way.

"You over there! Get the hell outta here!" a rough voice yelled, "Are you, KID?! Hah?!" Inspector Nakamori placed two rough fingers pulled on both of his cheeks.

After some explanations, Shinichi escaped with a pair of bright red aching cheeks and an earful of scolding.

"There you are," before even turning around to respond to the voice a ring of cold steel clicked around his wrist, "KID!" a blond brit appeared from behind Shinichi with the other ring of cold steel around his own wrist. The newly returned detective have a bad feeling about this…

 _Some minutes before the heist._

* * *

Ran first noticed her childhood friend then she took note of how he was stumbling behind a blond handsome fellow with a handcuff clicking between them every so often.

"Shin-" she called.

Aoko followed, "Hakuba-kun?...Kaito?"

"Ran, good timing…" Shinichi stumbled as Hakuba slightly tugged on the handcuff "Explain to him won't you? He keeps accusing me of being KID."

"Kaito! Where did you run off this time?!" Aoko came forward and gave Shinichi's gluteus maximus a good slap, "Seriously… I had to ask Hakuba-kun to search for you."

He didn't know who this girl who looks terrifyingly similar to Ran is and why he's handcuffed to a British man but Shinichi is terrified and confused. The outside world is scary, his library was much safer.

"R-Ran…" he quivered.

After a few minutes of lots of explanation, Aoko was apologising simultaneously for her inappropriate action and Hakuba was more than willing to let him go if the brit could find the key to the handcuffs.

Forget the key, the power went out and a spotlight magically focused on a silhouette on top of the display case.

"Ladies and gentlemen!-"

"Someone turn on the power generator!" a police yelled from the top of their lungs.

KID reached his hand straight through the glass case and pulled out the prized jewel, magically without triggering the hidden traps within the case "Thank you for coming to my show this evening! Upon my return, I'll take this jewel as my prize!" Smokes cued from the base of the pedestal of the displayed gem as the smoke dispersed, KID disappeared with it.

Shinichi caught a glimpse of white turning the corner, possibly towards the roof. Acted collectively as possible among the chaos of rainbow coloured police officers rushing around trying to undo ribbons and knots that tied them to one another, Shinichi pulled a bubbly pin stealthily from Ran's bun and freed himself from the handcuffs then dashed towards the roof.

' _Please make it in time!'_ Shinichi could feel a sharp pain at his side, was he really that out of shape? The critic thundered down the door and came face to face with the magician clad in white.

"Well, well it has been a long time Tan…" KID drifted off when he realised that Shinichi was paying more attention to the surroundings than the said handsome magician clad in white. Shinichi's cerulean blue eyes locked on to a bright red line breaching from a faraway distance.

The familiar red dot starts to take an unsteady aim at KID's face.

A constant ringing was all Shinichi could hear, KID's mouth was moving…what was he saying?

"Hey since it has been a while at least pay me some-"

The detective was fast and pulled KID towards himself. Both males stumbled and fell on the roof. Fractions of a second later, a bullet launched itself into a water tank on the museum roof. When the two caught up to the situation, KID laid underneath his favourite critic with both hands comfortably settled on the detective's hips, to be honest, the thief really didn't want to let go. Shinichi was breathing heavily and sweating on top of him, such a scene could only exist in the thief's dirtiest dreams. Oh did he mention how the black suit Shinichi chose to endowed on today was outlining said detective's slim waist and perfectly toned legs?

The critic clumsily pulled away and grabbed his phone, "What's the situation over there?...alright I'll meet you when I get-" police force marched up to the roof behind Nakamori's booming voice yelling curses as he busted through the door. Shinichi rushed downstairs while hushing instructions through his phone. '

KID threw a flash bomb at his feet and escaped though he was still pretty spaced out.

Leaving the task force in extra hula skirts, a flower ring over each of their heads and heavy make-up on their faces.

"Damn you, KID!" Nakamori shouted, soon followed was some colourful language that was so creative that no one could understand what it meant.

No one noticed small drops of blood on the roof or how slightly KID's gloves were dyed scarlet.

* * *

Shinichi exited the building and searched around, "No…I'll leave the rest to you." And hang up his phone. The stitches at his side worsened and Shinichi was out of breath.

"Shinichi! Over here!"

He turned towards Ran's voice. She was waving at him in front of a group of people he doesn't recognise very well. There was the girl who looks a lot similar to Ran, Aoko was her name, standing next to the blond brit. But next to them was a male in a black jumper over a baby blue button-up with rolled up sleeves, bickering with Aoko. He ran up to them and seem to capture the group's attention.

"What?" He put the phone away.

Ran began by giving him another earful for coming late and ditching her for KID.

"It's a little late but, this is Kudou Shinichi, my childhood friend!" She finally said after a solid 5 minute of scolding.

"Nice to meet you," Shinichi added.

Aoko beamingly smiled, "I'm Nakamori Aoko! We meet just before! And this is-"

Hakuba took a step forward and grabbed Shinichi's hand, "I apologise for my rude behaviour earlier. My name is Hakuba Saguru," He planted a gentle kiss on Shinichi's hand "I hope the handcuffs didn't hurt you."

A slight blush appeared on Shinichi's cheeks before he politely bowed and gave his greetings. Kaito's smile stayed intact as he openly glared at British detective.

"Greetings!" It was the magician's turn, "I'm Kuroba Kaito, a magician extraordinaire. Pleased to meet you!" the messy head elegantly bowed as a red rose appeared from thin air in his hand.

Shinichi froze momentarily.

His gaze fixed on the magician's features, it took him a moment to finally match all the information together. He stared at the rose in Kaito's hand with a deadpan expression. He let out a breath in a depressing sigh just as heavy as the weight on his heart.

* * *

 **A/N:** WHERE'S THE ANGST U LIAH? - well... This chapter was originally reaching the 7k+ mark and so I had to cut it in half since I didn't want any of my chapters to be too long, it gets boring...Anyway, thanks for reading thus far! I'm hoping to do some quick development on the plot in the next few chapters and clear off the BO for good so we can get to some actual relationship development and human drama but we'll have to wait and see. See you next time!


	5. Chapter 5

Shinichi opened the door to his large empty house, with a huge sigh. The detective had excused himself from the group early, returned home and planned to lock himself in there for the next couple of weeks. Currently wrapped in the comfort of his soft cotton blanket Shinichi intends to sleep away the sudden depression. The stabbing pain at his side remain, Shinichi placed a hand over the pain in curiosity and the sensation drained his colour.

A few hours later, Kaito stood outside the huge Kudou mansion, contemplating whether to barge through the door. He knocked 10 times in the last three minutes but no one answered. He was sure Shinichi returned home at least before him. The thief banged the door again just as muffled fumbling and stumbling could be heard from the other side, he took an instinctive step back as the male on the other side pushed the wooden door open. The detective's attire was unsuitable for answering the door, his shirt was clumsily buttoned, hair was dishevelled, laboured breath and a pale complexion. If anything, it's more suitable for bed act- Get yourself together, Kaito. Anyway the extraordinaire gathered himself.

"Hi! You look genuinely surprised but I'm supposed to stay with you for a few days!" he awkwardly drifted off "um…Mouri-chan…sent you a text about that…right…?" as if on cue, Shinichi's phone beeped in his pocket. Not even amused or surprised, Shinichi calmly brought out his phone, read the email and invited Kaito inside.

The detective clicked open the door to a guest room next to his own room, "If you don't mind, you can use this room during your stay, Kuroba-san."

"I much prefer using yours though." Kaito gave Shinichi a suggestive look which the later quickly dismissed.

"Please make yourself at home," Shinichi rushed back to his room "I have some work to do, please don't disturb me." And he was gone.

* * *

As much as Kaito liked how the situation was leaning towards his predilection, with Shinichi being so up-tight it could be hard for him to make a move and what's with 'Kuroba-san'? No one he ever met in his life have ever called him that, ever. The most formal his name ever got was 'Kuroba-kun' but this is clearly not the problem right now.

Hours or minutes later, Kaito settled down to the couch in the lodge, pondering over his discovery of the note in the trashcan with only two lines (don't ask why Kaito was going through someone else's trashcan.)

' _Car is bugged. Be careful in your house too.'_

' _Saw some black around the corner. You be careful too.'_

Lost in thought, the magician didn't notice the detective exiting this room until the other male tapped his shoulder.

"If you're hungry, you can call for a take-out." The detective gave an apologetic look and slightly titled his head which Kaito thought was absolutely adorable.

Kaito smiled back "Eh? You're not cooking dinner? And here I thought I would be able to eat the infamous Kudou Shinichi hand-made food," the messy haired bounced up "But worry not! I, Kuroba Kaito, will be cooking your dinner tonight!"

By the time Kaito finished his flashy speech, Shinichi was already at the stairs "There's no grocery in the house, you can just call for take-out."

"We'll go grocery shopping then!"

"…'We'?"

"I'll see you in half an hour, Shin-chan!" Shinichi mentally cursed the thief from behind the bathroom's door, is there no way to get out of this? The bandages he applied was soaked in blood already, to think the cure to Apotoxin would have a post-side effect that reopen the wounds at his abdomen like this. He'll have to tell Haibara tomorrow. The detective gently wiped away the dried blood around the wound before re-dressing it.

Thirty minute later "Shin-chan are you done yet?" Kaito was outside Shinichi's room.

"Could you please not call me that?" Shinichi slammed the door open.

Kaito quickly pulled the detective downstairs "Not until you call me Kai-chan or at least Kaito!" out to the nearest 7 Eleven and crawled under Shinichi's skin.

* * *

Currently in the ramen section they (Kaito) were having a blast at strange new flavours that came in stocks.

"Look, look Shin-chan! Olive flavoured ramen!" Kaito picked up the packet and started laughing hysterically "It's olive flavoured! Sounds so gross, let's try it!"

"Shut up or else we'll be thrown out." Shinichi growled, he should have persistently stayed home.

Sometimes later, the messy head male whistled in the kitchen of the Kudo house as he switched on the kettle and caught Shinichi's collar before the detective escaped back to his room with a perfect smile plastered on his face.

"You're eating." Kaito beamed.

Shinichi was shocked, it's 2am in the morning not exactly the best time for dinner "Aren't you getting a little too overly familiar with me even though we've only known each other for less than a day?"

"I know we'll get along well~" Kaito set down a ramen cup in front of the critic and himself "after all your girlfriend is so similar to Aoko. Right?"

A confusion took over with a stabbing pain and the detective halted. Whether it was from his heart or wounds, Shinichi couldn't tell. He silently stood up and put away the noodle cup. The light-headedness he felt was abnormal and the ringing in his ears was blocking out whatever Kaito was saying, he needed some privacy.

"-Shinichi…?" Kaito eyes carefully examined the detective "Are you alright? You look kinda pale…" Shinichi didn't answer and proceeded up the stairs "Hey!" Kaito grabbed a firm grip on Shinichi's arm who quickly pulled away. Kaito could clearly make out the sweat gathering on Shinichi's forehead, was he in pain? Was Shinichi scared? Why is he so pale? Why is his breath so shallow? Questions starts racing through his mind about Shinichi's well-being, the phantom was getting overly concerned, he's gotta get inside Shinichi's room no matter what tonight.

Amid shock and confusion, the detective whispered a small apology and rushed to his room. Not to mention, he even locked it…Why on earth is the detective weary of him? Kaito's logic begun to fall for the worst and questioned whether Shinichi already knew he was KID. If that was the case, then he better flee or tomorrow he would find himself in a cold concrete room behind bars. But no, Tantei-kun could be dying and nobody could tell because he was that type of person.

* * *

The next morning (…not really, Kaito abruptly awoken at 3am) came without a hassle, the big mansion was deadly silence. Kaito curled up to the comfort of a soft mattress in Shinichi's guest room, his messy head was even messier than it normally is, lot of cows must have come to lick his hair last night. The usual nightmare spared him, the terrifying image of fire and blood didn't haunt him but darkness settled with him.

For the past five minute since he entered the bathroom, Kaito was fascinated with how big the bathroom is. It was the size of a 1LDK apartment, rich kids really have it different. But then…

A tint of red in white fabric caught Kaito's attention.

Horror crept up upon him, the amount of blood on Shinichi's white shirt from last night was enough to knock a person unconscious; it was a miracle that the detective was even walking, if that was his own blood.

As stealthily as possible, Kaito burst through the bathroom door and into Shinichi's room, the lock was child's play for KID. Said phantom first noticed the abundant of bandages in the detective's bin _'The bleeding didn't seem to cease.'_ He thought as he climbed into bed with his favourite critic. It was dangerous to check for Shinichi's wound, in case the pain would disturb the sleeping beauty, he would have to wait until tomorrow to peep when Shinichi would be changing (purely to check the condition of his wounds, no ulterior motives, Kaito swore on the name of…whoever's name he was willing to lose.)

The moment Shinichi woke up there would be a soccer ball implanted in his face but as for now, the warmth and comfort from the other boy was easing his mind. Kaito knew he shouldn't be doing this, Shinichi had a girlfriend. His Bro code screamed 'no' and run the heck out of there before Shinichi wakes up but too late now, Kaito was comfortably tucked away under Shinichi's blanket, the planets aligned and the position was so right that moving even a finger could ruin everything. This feels right, almost as if having Shinichi next to him in bed was where he belongs.

* * *

If Kudou Shinichi's occupation didn't require him to be at gunpoint of criminals, he would have kicked this guy's face like a soccer ball. The moment Shinichi began to regain consciousness the first sense he registered was unnatural warmth for an autumn morning, next to hit him was the sound of deep breathing, then Shinichi noticed something warm wrapping around his legs, they felt so natural that he couldn't noticed them until he tried to shift his body and finally his eyes cracked to the midday light, his own sleeping reflection met his gaze. By now, Shinichi's brain was fast enough to deduced that the other person in his bed and should not be, was Kuroba Kaito. But he couldn't see why the other male would sneak onto his bed during the night, especially into a male's bed. His wounds quickly reminded him of their presence and the need to replace its dressings, Shinichi tried his best to slowly untangle his legs from Kaito's and made a note in the back of his mind to interrogate the other later. Just as he was free, the magician swiftly wrapped an arm around his waist and pulled him closer then threw a leg over to lock Shinichi's legs in place.

"Good morning…" said Kaito in a dangerously husky voice.

"If you don't let me go in three seconds, your head will be a soccer ball," Despite the obviously realistic threat, the magician didn't budge "Kuroba-san." Shinichi impatiently growled.

The other pouted "But poor o' me had a scary dream last night and couldn't sleep by myself…won't you comfort me, Kudou-san?" the detective's family name rolled awkwardly off his tongue, as Kaito thought, Shin-chan would have been a better choice.

Shinichi reached over to the night table and pulled out the tranquilizer watch he had kept from the time being Conan and aimed it at Kaito. He didn't have time to raise hell over this, Shinichi could feel the blood sipping through last night bandages, wet, sloppy and disgusting.

"W-what's that?" asking an obvious question, Kaito moved his upper body far away as possible but his limbs remained immobilised.

"Move." A short and simple word from the detective and the magician backed away to the cold corner of the bed, sulking.

The detective ignored the stinging pain and tried his best to naturally manoeuvred his movements, with KID in his house and sulking on his bed, it's hard for Shinichi to let his guards down. He failed once when the thief snuck into his bed last night, the current security system he had in place had proved their effectiveness against KID and will need to be replaced soon, preferably by an angry Osakan detective wielding a _shinai_.

Soon Shinichi was in the kitchen with a coffee cup in hand and the news broadcasting in the lodge, reporting on KID's heist the previous night and how his hand complete slide through the display glass without cutting a hole. Shinichi didn't bother figuring out the trick this time, his mind was more occupied with the gunshot on the roof the previous night. Subaru and Amuro couldn't find any traces of the culprit or Snake, surely another attack was bound happen soon now that Snake is aware of Shinichi's presence in his plan.

Kaito trudged down next to Shinichi "Morning!" he greeted enthusiastically as if he did not sneak into a certain someone's bed last night.

Shinichi couldn't bother racking his brain anymore. Only a little less than 48 hours in Japan, he did not expect to be this tired. Having only taken the cure the day before he boarded the plane back, it was a bad idea to run back to Japan so soon.

Absentmindedly, the detective found himself eating _breakfast_ at the kitchen table.

Now. Kudou Shinichi don't eat food in the morning, either he never had the appetite or he was never awake in time for breakfast, but a plate of French toast was place in front of him and Shinichi was eating from it. The sudden break of habit twisted his stomach in a sickly manner, Shinichi reached for his coffee, took a sip and spat it back out.

His addictive caffeine was replaced with disgusting orange juice; 100% Shinichi would bet that this was the magician's doing. He sent a glare toward the person and made a scowl.

"You-"

"Shinichi!" Ran busted through the door, "We're going out!" Aoko followed modestly behind.

Mouth dripping with nauseous orange juice, Shinichi turned towards the two females.

Aoko quickly rushed over "Shinichi-kun! Did Kaito do something to you?" asked she, worriedly.

' _A lot of things,'_ Shinichi wanted to say but to keep down the trouble, "He changed my coffee to orange juice."

"Kaito!" Aoko yelled and pulled Kaito by the ear, mechanically the magician's head start turning clockwise and made a 360 turn while repeating 'Good morning' over and over again.

"Oh…" his husky voice came somewhere from below "So it's blue today…" Wordlessly, Aoko aimed at where Kaito's head should be under the table and kicked as hard as she could.

"This is rare, you're eating breakfast," Ran inspected Kaito's creation, "Here's your coffee." She replaced the mug as Kaito and Aoko battle it out in the background, somehow Aoko managed to find a mop and start wielding it with mad skills at her childhood friend who's stuck on Shinichi's high ceiling like Spiderman.

He gratefully accepted the mug "You should learn from Aoko-san a thing or two. At least learn to stop flashing your undergarments at me."

Ran moved next to the coffee machine and gently stroke the surface "Shinichi, you don't need this anymore right?" Her fist was by her side and ready to go. The threat was clear.

"I was wrong, please keep flashing your undergarment at me, Mouri Ran-sama." Over the years, Ran had found that raising her fist against Shinichi's coffee machine was more effective than raising her fist against the man, himself. But that was troubling for the detective because he had to abide with her threat every time even if it's to go out, socialise and interact with other human beings.

* * *

Feeling refreshed with freshly changed bandages, Shinichi was forcefully dragged out of his safe haven and into public, currently in a café shop with another cup of iced coffee. The remaining three was talking about random things as Shinichi observed the customers inside the café and on a lookout in case of some possible murder. Just as he suspected, a scream resounded near the restroom.

"One moment." He excused himself in one swift movement, Shinichi took his coffee with him to the restroom.

Kaito pointed to Shinichi's retreating back "Is this normal?"

Aoko scolded Kaito about the rudeness of pointing at people as Ran slowly nodded with a deadpan expression.

"You know, there was this one time where the exact same thing happened, I think it was in the same café too. Every time he goes outside, he'll solve at least one murder case, such a death magnet right?"

Aoko quickly replied "But Shinichi-kun is so nice, unlike Kaito here. He flirts with every animated objects."

"Must be troublesome to have Kaito-kun/Shinichi-kun as your boyfriend huh." The two girls said in unison.

"Eh?" Having realised what just happened Ran hurriedly stated "Shinichi isn't my boyfriend! I-I already have someone else!"

"There's no way I can date an idiot like Kaito and I already have my eyes on Hakuba-kun!" Aoko harshly followed, completely oblivious to Kaito's pride.

Kaito glared at his childhood friend "Geez…everyone just loves me okay?"

"Ran-chan, so you're dating someone else?" Aoko ignored him.

Ran clapped her hands together in delight "Yes! His name's Eisuke, sorry I couldn't introduce you, he's oversea at the moment," she showed the Ekoda pair her phone "Here look, this is him, isn't he adorable?"

"Wow! He's so cute!" Aoko squealed "I thought you would date Shinichi-kun since you guys seems so close!"

Ran glanced suspiciously around before coming closer and used one of her hand to cover her mouth from the public "Just between you and me," she started in a whisper "I think Shinichi's gay."

If Kaito wasn't paying attention hard enough ever since they started talking about the absent detective, he's paying even closer attention now to make sure he missed no syllable coming from Ran's mouth.

"Shinichi have a fan club even before his debut as a detective and there used to be a mountain of fan mail and love letters in his locker in high school. Before and after school girls would surround him and confess, do you know how much trouble I have go through to clean his locker when he disappeared till graduation? I remembered every weekend I would bring two or three massive bags of fan letters to ditch in his room." Ran sighed.

Aoko exclaimed "He's so popular! Does he read the letters?" As expected of Kaito's childhood friend, she knew exactly what to ask.

"I don't know but he always goes to where girls ask him to so they can confess. I don't think he accepted any yet though…I think he read the letters, since he replies to the girls at school. He said something about guessing a person from their handwriting, what a nerd, " Ran shifted the topic to Kaito "I think you're so lucky to have Kaito-kun as your childhood friend, he's such a ladies man."

Aoko replied with a deadpan "I think he's everybody's man. He flirted with a dog once."

"That was an accident!" Kaito shot back.

Magically Shinichi appeared in front of the table with an elegant eyebrow raised in confusion "Flirting with a dog isn't very sane. Did you check him into a hospital yet?"

Never in his life did Kaito ever had such an enormous urge to explain how and why he accidently flirted with a canine, but the person that he wanted to have understand, completely ignored every explanation he tried to give. It was an accident, purely.

* * *

The group scrolled through Beika Park since Aoko and Ran suddenly has the best idea to give the Ekoda kids a tour of the big city.

"Sure brings back memories huh, Shinichi?" Ran nostalgically sighed.

Aoko curiously cut in "Huh? What kind of memories? Romantic ones?"

"Well… the last time we were here, it wasn't so romantic." Ran dragged out as Shinichi nodded in agreement.

The Ekoda kids tilted their head a waited for an elaboration.

"The last time we were here. He was stabbed."

"Seriously?! Where?!" the Ekoda kids exclaimed, suddenly start to gently pat down Shinichi's body in hope of finding the wound, well Aoko was. But Kaito was taking advantage of the situation to update on Shinichi's measurements and holy cow, was the detective fit and slim.

"Stop it." Shinichi grabbed the hands fumbling around his body and lightly pushed them away, did they feel the bandage through his clothes? Hopefully not.

"It's a long story basically the criminal was obsessed with Shinichi and they got mad when they saw him with me and my friend, Sonoko, so they ran up and tried to stab Sonoko. Shinichi managed to grab them before they got close to Sonoko but while wrestling the criminal, he accidentally got stabbed."

"Your life is really exciting, Shin-chan."

Aoko gave him a deadpan smile "I'm surprised you guys can talk about it so lightly."

"It happens from time to time." The sleuth replied _'Comes with the job.'_ He added mentally but Ran hated that phrase.

Now that Kaito was aware that the detective was indeed single and in need of protection from stalkers and fans alike, the gentleman thief was more than delighted to help. He slowly stalked next Shinichi and began to walk in the same pace behind their two female friends.

"Hey, Shin-chan." the messy haired was so excited about the things he would do with Shinichi once they're together, oh the faces his precious critic would make would be priceless. He could see it so clearly.

Shinichi replied with a scowl "Don't call me that."

"I'm single, you're single, ready to mingle?" Kaito winked the detective.

"Eh?" Aoko and Ran at the front halted.

"…" Shinichi stared at him in an indescribable expression.

"Eh?" came the lady walking her dog.

"Eh?" from the man walking pass.

"Eh?" said the grandpa feeding ducks on the bench.

"Eh?" asked the grandma feeding crows.

Kaito then realised what rubbish he just sprouted from his mouth. Mechanically and soullessly, because his soul had already left to hide in hell from embarrassment, Kaito shuffled closer to the bush which is now his new best friend. It took a moment before Aoko's brain started running again, she burst out laughing hysterically and had to move to a nearby pole to support herself. Shinichi clapped a hand over his mouth and turned away while slowly but surely inching towards Kaito who's chanting some kind of spell or 'I'm sorry' repeatedly as he drew swirly circles in the soil. The sun was out, the sky was clear, birds are chirping, it was a beautiful day and in that one particular part of the bush, a magician extraordinaire named Kuroba Kaito was draining away all the positivity in the world.

Shinichi awkwardly gave Kaito a pat "I'll…" he started "pretend I didn't hear that."

Shinichi was just as embarrass as the magician was. Never in his life have Kudou Shinichi had someone flirt with him in such a… _unique_ way. He could feel that Ran will never let this slide, ever. Heck, her face was twisting weirdly and he knows she's enjoying this.

Kaito, on the other hand, was doomed as he continued to feed the world's supply of positivity into the void. Aoko's not going to let this pass. She's going to tease him about this until the day he dies.

Out of all the first pick-up line he could have use for Shinichi, he blurted out that one. Now he was ready to feed himself to the void.

* * *

Kaito trotted depressingly back to his room and haven't spared a single word ever since his embarrassing failure. Shinichi left the thief to his own device as he paid a visit to the scientist next door.

Haibara was angry beyond words. Her silent anger seeped through his spine and Shinichi shivered. Minutes later, Haibara was glaring at him at the bedside as she cleaned his massive bleeding wounds, with the phone on speaker resting on the bedside table.

With a click, someone answered.

[Hello?] A voice came clearly through.

"Fluffy it's me." Haibara answered.

A few shuffling and a loud thud later Duck finally answer [How can this _anka_ help you?]

"A **dumb** , **stupid** and **arrogant** detective came up with some side effects of the cure, took more than 24 hours to notify me even though I am literally next door, I need you to come to Japan as soon as possible." Haibara grabbed the antiseptic bottle next to the phone.

[Hm…I'm a little busy with CERN right now, but give me three days I'll wrap things up and fly over.]

With a soft grunt, Haibara hung up, took the first aid and left the room Tonight was a full moon, luckily Shinichi was able to enjoy the bright floating sphere from the room he was in since he had no intention of going home and let a thief sneak into his bed again tonight, not that the thief even look energetic enough to even say anything.


End file.
